First Try
by Catwithoutamap
Summary: There are several lessons one needs to learn, Lesson A, trees are very hazardous too ones health. Lesson B, flying solo isn't alway better. Lesson C, Trust is essential. Lesson D, size doesn't matter. Lesson E, help can be a good thing. Lesson F, family.
1. Testing Wings

Jeb glanced up from the paperwork that was currently strewn across the table. The sound of wings beating had startled him. Max had hers spread behind her, her hands each placed on the chest of one of the older boys. Gazzy was rolling on the floor and Angel, her curls in disarray watched curiously, her head tilted, as the scene played out.

He could already tell what had happened. Gazzy must have used his talent to get the two of them going. Max was stepping into her role as leader more and more often these day's it was almost impossible not to notice. She was the one who broke up fights between Iggy and Fang. Who combed Angles hair in the morning and made sure that everyone got an equal portion of the breakfast. And this was the first time any of them had purposefully spread their wings. Their habit of keeping them close to maximize space must be wearing off he thought as he watched her deal with their fight. Her glare turning to a too innocent Gazzy, who at three was already turning out to be the main troublemaker.

She really was incredible. They all were. He was surprised when she used the wings, a full 11 feet across to put more space between the boys as she chewed them out. Her face fierce; a glint in her eyes that booked no nonsense. It was later that day that he found her sitting on her bed, her knees drawn to her chest a contemplative look on her face. Her hand idly resting on the curve of one of her wings, her fingers stroking the feathers there. Her voice was soft.

"I wonder if we could do it."

* * *

I jerked awake. The ringing in my ears refusing to go away and I rolled to the side and slapped the top of my Mickey Mouse alarm clock; and kept rolling right onto the floor. I fell with a rather loud thump, tangled in my comforter and jeans, and spitting my once again too long hair out of my face managed to gain my feet.

Standing still for a moment I waited, no one came bursting in shouting that I'd woken them. I smiled slightly: time to try out my idea. Sneakers in hand I managed to get out of the front door. Pulling them on I inhaled deeply. The air was cold. Well it should be it was almost Halloween, not that we'd do anything on that day. I pulled on my sneakers glad that I had my sweatshirt. I found a tree near the edge of a clearing and scrambled into the branches, time to test my wings. Literally.

It was one of those moments, when nothing else seems to matter. I jumped and as the ground rushed toward my nose at a speed that felt far too fast I managed to snap my wings open. There see I can be poetic…kind of.

And then I was soaring. The feeling really is one like no other. I couldn't help it I yelled barely remembering to flap as the updraft I'd unknowingly caught carried me up over the trees and toward the house. And then there was a tree in front of my nose and you'll pardon me if I don't remember what happened after my forehead and that stupid tree became rather more intimately acquainted than I would've liked.

The next thing that I really remember was someone's hand on my shoulder and a lot of confused babbling. And a pounding headache. Yeah at that point it really was not business as usual for me to have a headache. Shocking I know. It was Fang's features that came into focus first. He was leaning over me a, very worried look on his face.

"She's awake!" he called. That's when I became aware that I was on the beat-up couch in our living room. That the babble was the rest of the flock harrying Jeb to tell them that I was alright. He approached and held out an ice pack. Something that I can remember being in the freezer in great quantities in our younger days. Yeah we're all kinda accident prone.

"How're you feeling," he asked his eyes giving away the smile that he was trying to hide. I glared and covered my eyes with the ice pack ignoring the questions of the flock and the _look_ that Fang was giving me.

Jeb was smiling in full when I finally took away the ice pack. (You can only leave them on your head before you get brain freeze.)

"So," he said his smile leaking into his voice, "how was it?" I couldn't resist a grin at the memory of the cool air rushing into my face and through my feathers. It really was a feeling like no other.

"It was…amazing." yeah there's me actually using the word amazing.

_Third change, fixed Angels name. Thanks for the tip._


	2. Flying Solo

The world whipped past, the wind cool and almost firm against my face. My hair was in my eyes and my mouth and I was free. The unfamiliar, but strangely right sensations of beating wings and stinging wind cleared my head. I'd been practicing under Jeb's eye for weeks since my first disastrous attempt; and this was my first time, literally flying solo. And it was one of those experiences you never forget.

I laughed as I banked and headed back across the valley toward the house. The sun was just beginning to sink and the sky was dyed a deep raspberry. The light was really dim as I let my feet touch down. Angle came running the second my feet hit the ground; the others were only seconds behind. I grinned and gave them the thumbs up.

Ig glared, Fang…was well Fang, Gaz whined that he wanted to try, Nudge asked question after question, and Angle bounced in Jeb's arms holding out her hands to me. As I braced her on my hip she giggled.

The rest of the flock had begun to think about flying since my experiment but so far non had been able to keep air. I carried Angel inside and we began to get ready for bed.

It was later that night, I was sitting on my bed cross legged with a book open in my lap and the only light coming from my reading lamp when someone knocked on my door. The pattern was Fang's. I smiled as the door opened admitting my best friend in the flock. He was dress in his pajamas, a beat up t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. His hair was wet and like mine in need of cutting. And there was a question in his eyes. I sighed.

"There really aren't words you know." I said quietly as I pulled my hair from it's braid and began to re-braid it. He sighed. And I saw the disappointment in his eyes. I stood, up my newly re-braided braid slipping into it's place on my back as I headed for the window. The latch clicked as I pushed it open and turned back to face him. He looked surprised and scared and he was grinning.

That's when I learned one of the more important lessons of flying: flying with someone beats flying solo any day.

At least it does most days.

_Major changes here mainly because I wrote these all seperatly and not as part of a story at first so now I'm trying to make them all fit. Also still not mine_


	3. Flying Blind

He was alone, finally. He could feel the edge of the cliff curled under his toes and the wind in his feathers. He slowly extended his wings to their full length. Nine feet between him and death. He closed his eyes, not that it made any difference, and stepped forward. The air caught his wings and with a flap he felt himself rise. The thrill of feeling him self rise almost made him stop flapping, but some instinct kept him going. It was, there really were no words to describe that feeling of knowing that he too could actually do it.

He kept himself high not wanting to hit anything, the wind in his face was exhilarating. The cool air this high made him feel light headed and he couldn't help but grin. The dark pressed in on all sides but it no longer felt oppressive. He was free.

It may have been hours later when he realized that he was going to have to land soon, he was tired, but that he had no idea which way the house was. Or for that matter which way the edge of the canyon was. He swallowed hard. He could feel the currents careening around him, the wind playing with his hair and feathers. He listened wondering… The faint sound of a girl's voice calling. "Iggy? Iggy!" He smiled and turned in that direction. He could hear the trees now, and the sound of her voice was closer. The ground was under his feet and his knees buckled. He was going to have to work on his landings. Her hand brushed his face and realized that he was crying. Blinking he let her guide him back to the house. He was grinning.

They were sitting around the table later that night talking and laughing. He could hear Gazzy grumbling about the fact that he couldn't yet keep his nose out of the dust. He could feel the conspiratorial whispers from the direction of Max and Fang and suppressed a smile. Jeb hadn't said anything about his trial this morning but he could feel his eyes on him and so he smiled and said nothing.

Later that night he headed towards Max's room. The door creaked slightly as he opened it and he smiled when he heard her breath hitch. Using the wall to keep himself oriented he made his way to where she lay.

"You planning on going out tonight?" he asked his voice barely audible. His fingers touched her smile.

He let them guide him trusted them to take him between the tree's and trusted them to make sure that he would land when they did. He grinned knowing what they were going to do seconds after they did it in the soft silence of the air. He knew that this was what he'd been born to do and just because he didn't have the advantage of being able to see what they could didn't mean, that he couldn't.


	4. Cherubic

I grimaced; Angel had managed to get onto the counter again. She was giggling and flapping her wings. Her hair looked like it'd been in a hurricane and she'd knocked over the canister that had all the stirring stuff in it. She had managed to rescue one spoon and was waving it like a sword. I could tell that she was about to jump so I held out my arms inviting the forbidden activity. Let me tell you catching enthusiastic one and half year olds is not as easy as it sounds.

"Max, Max! Fly, fly, fly!" I blinked and winced as she rapped me on the head with her spoon/sword. I heard someone snort from behind me. Grimacing I reached up and rescued my head from further abuse by wooden spoon, trust me it gets enough in sparring practice with Ig and Fang. "Max, Iggy, Fang, Fly!" she cried again this time pointing towards my room. I blinked. I had just been thinking about our late night flights, how could she have known? I didn't know, at least I didn't know _then_.

Worriedly I glanced at Jeb. He didn't know anything about our sneaked practice. Luckily he and the boys were currently engaged at yelling at some sporting event on TV. I glanced at the youngest of our flock again, she watched me in return and them said "Fly, shhhh!" it was probably in what she thought was a quiet voice but then she hadn't yet gain the fine control of vocal chords needed to whisper. I nodded sagely though and put my finger to my lips.

"That's right. Flying, wings, they're secret. Remember? Ok?" She nodded enthusiastically and then reached for my spoon which I held out of her grasp.

It was later that afternoon when I went to get Angel up from her nap that I realized that another one of us had gained a skill. "Max, Max! I fly!" I blinked at this and glanced around the small room that she shared with Nudge. She was standing on the top of the window sill. Thank god the window was closed and locked. She jumped down and much to my surprise managed to keep herself in the air for a few moments. She hovered there grinning and then crashed onto Nudges bed and giggled. She caught my knees in a hug and I stared down at her. She cocked her head to the side and then said,

"Max angry?" she sounded sad and worried and I blinked.

"No, no I'm not mad." I said kneeling. "I'm just scared that you're going to hurt yourself and that's scary. And also you're so small…" she was nodding as though she understood. Angel's always been mature. Maybe it comes from the mind reading but still at this point we didn't know about that. Not yet anyway.

When Gazzy found out that his baby sister could at least get into the air he literally threw a fit. Angel smiled well, angelically. We should have known then that she'd be a handful.

_Ok, for this story I'm planning on finishing it off with one segment for each flock member. I've refreshed each of the previous chapters to fit together better, so if your continuing to read this you should go back and reread the previous chapters. After I finish each of the flock there may be one more chapter but really only expect the six. sorry for the ramble. Not mine, never was never will be. _


	5. Flying by the Seat of His Pants

The first of us to get hurt trying to fly was as you may have guessed Gazzy. He managed to sneak off during one of the older kids sparring sessions that Jeb had been giving us. We were right in the middle of learning a new kick when all of a sudden Angel toddled over. She was cry and yelling.

"Gaz! Gaz, hurt!" Jeb blinked and she tugged him in the direction of my clearing. She looked so scared we all took off running. The clearing was empty except for Gazzy who was sitting underneath one of the trees. His hair was as usual a mess and he was cradling his wrist. It didn't take Jeb long to figure out what had happened.

"Gaz, what have I told you about trying this." He murmured as set the wrist back at the house. "If Angel hadn't seen you fall…"

"But she didn't!" his confusion was evident in his voice. "She was in the house, with Nudge." Nudge nodded and glanced at us looking confused. Jeb glanced over at her with a look on his face that I couldn't interpret. He sighed and finished bandaging his wrist before turning to stare at all of us.

"I won't say you can't all I ask is that you tell someone and that you don't go alone. I don't want any of you hurt." his face was tired as he said it. "You've already had enough pain for plenty of lifetimes." he smiled and then left to put Angel down for her nap.

Gazzy just sat there glaring at the ground. He'd been like this since we all started learning. Nudge was starting to test her own wings though she was still keeping her feet firmly on the ground. But especially since Angels little stunt the other day the last two grounded ones had begun to look towards the sky. Suddenly I had an idea.

It was late that night. I had waited until both Fang and Iggy had joined me in my room as they'd been doing since they both mastered the fine art of flying. Then I motioned for them to wait and headed for the room that Iggy shared with the Gasman.

He was sitting on his bed, glaring at the wall the way only a three year old could. I couldn't stop from smiling, he just looked so cute when he was pissed off.

"Gazzy," I hissed keeping my voice as low as possible. He stared at me and then he jumped off the bed running towards me. I held up a hand stopping him from giving us away with the questions I knew he wanted to ask. His wrist was still in the brace that Jeb had put it in but by the way that he wasn't paying it any attention I guessed that he was well on the way to recovery. When we reached my room again the older two boys looked curious as to why the second youngest of our numbers was joining us.

It was late, after midnight I think when I stood on the edge of the cliff watching the three of them. Gaz had been so excited when he'd managed to stay airborne for a few seconds that he'd nearly stopped flapping and Fang and I had only just caught him. He and Ig and Fang had all headed for bed leaving me standing here wondering.

It's not normal for a nine year old to stand on the edge of a cliff and contemplate death. No, I wasn't thinking about jumping. I had gown up in a lab and seen so many experiments 'expire' that that one word always made me flinch. And tonight when Gazzy had stopped flapping and turned to me excitement then fear on his face I'd wondered what would happen if we reached our expiration dates. We were like milk to those stupid scientists. Just something that lasted for a few weeks and was so replaceable that they didn't care.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I blinked at Jeb's voice. He was in his PJ's and he was watching me, arms crossed and an expression on his face that I couldn't read. I bit my lip and then everything that I'd been worrying about for days poured out. As I spoke Jeb's expression changed from impassive to compassionate to horrified. Suddenly I was in his arms, feeling small and tired and scared. I felt like a kid, not a mutant bird kid, but a normal kid who was scared of the dark who's dad has just found them and offered comfort. I didn't hear what he was saying, just felt the vibrations under my cheek. After a few minutes he picked me up and carried me inside. I heard another voice and forcing tired sore eyes open I saw Fang. He looked terrified. I'd so rarely cried in the past that this was new for him. And for me as well.

In that moment I promised myself that I wouldn't do this to him again. And I did keep that promise until about five years later when I was told that my 'destiny' was to save the world.

But right then I wanted not to see that worried face and so I closed my eyes again. Jeb put me to bed, tucking the blankets around my wings and softly stroking the feathers before turning and heading back to his own bed. It was only about five minutes before Fang crept in. I'd never seen him look so young. He crept over and I shifted to give him room.

When I woke up the next morning I found myself warm and someone's hand was stroking my wing. And for that moment I could be happy for Gaz who was out side showing off for Nudge and Jeb. And I had no desire to move, so I stayed there smiling and listening to my best friends heart beat.

_Squint and you see what is known on the net as Fax. Sorry there won't be anymore than this at least in this story. As for Max's slight out of characterness, that's because she's nine and still working up to be the wonderful leader that we know and love. Anyway hope that you enjoyed this and the last chapter should be up soon. It's not mine, so there. _


	6. Test Flight

Nudge was understandably not in a good mood the next morning. She was in the middle of a bit of clumsy period and had a hard time coordinating her wings. Scrapes and other minor injuries abounded for a few weeks as she tried to get them in check.

"Their so long!" she exclaimed as I slapped on bandages after her sixth crash. I suppressed a smile. She glared at all of us as we stretched our wings each day and refused to talk to Jeb as though this were his fault. Which in a way, I guess it was. She was picking at her food about a week later when Jeb entered, he shot her a look. She'd been so quiet that we'd all been getting worried. He glanced at me where I sat playing with Angel. That night I slipped out leaving the two older boys to do what ever it was that they did when I wasn't around.

I peered into her room before entering all the way. Angel was out like a light but Nudge was sitting. It was a full moon, or at least it was almost full so the room was bathed in that clear slivery light. She looked so sad that I felt my heart constrict. I wondered what it felt like to be made to do something and not be able to do it.

Touching her shoulder I spoke as quietly as I could. "Come on Nudge, I'll go out with you. Just us girls. You can try one more time, it's still light enough…" she turned and faced me.

"Really! You'll try again even though I'm such a failure?" she sounded so thrilled, and I glared at her.

"You are not a failure!" I said keeping my glare up.

"But everyone else…"

I cut her off. "No, Nudge, you're not a failure. Never have been never will be. You just need more practice." She nodded and I put a finger to my lips and we slipped out the door. It was cold but Nudge had a look on her face and I merely smiled as we both climbed into the tree that I'd jumped from on my first try. "Follow my pattern," I said quietly. She nodded and when I jumped she followed her wings pumping in unison with me.

"I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" I laughed.

"Don't stop flapping!" I replied. She was grinning for the next three days.

Jeb put a stop to our night flights a few weeks later when Angel started protesting that she was being left behind. When she told Jeb that grounding us was mean, we all stared at her and when he realized that she was answering his thoughts rather than his voice was all decided that our little family had gotten a whole lot more interesting.

_Ok. So this is it for this story. I'm considering writing more about the Flocks early days so keep your eyes open. I also have a story that takes place a few years after the current books out though I may wait until after March to post that one. In any case I'm glad everyone enjoyed this one._


End file.
